Dracule Sakura's Ittoryu
Ittoryu is the signature combat style of infamous "Swift Demon," Dracule Sakura. Likewise, due to Sakura's rigid personal code regarding the use of swordsmanship, it is her only form of combat. While Ittoryu is a commonly used form of sword fighting seen throughout One Dream, even being famously used in One Piece canon by Straw Hat Pirate, Roronoa Zoro, Sakura's usage of Ittoryu seems to differ slightly from the way it is used by her contemporaries. Sakura uses her Ittoryu by wielding her frequently seen blade, Momoran; a katana of the O Wazamono grade of swords. By limiting herself to only using Ittoryu before the time skip, Sakura has honed her skills in the fighting style to such a degree, she has become an undisputed master of Ittoryu. As such, she has shown the knowledge and skill to make use of a variety of attacks; be they high speed iaido techniques, direct attacks, long ranged projectiles or even willfully bludgeoning foes with Momoran as opposed to cutting them. As her Ittoryu Iai: One Inch Slash technique has shown, Sakura can even leave behind full scale damage with only a small fraction of her blade revealed. Ittoryu Attacks As Ittoryu is a sword style that requires only a single sword at a time, one would assume this leaves Sakura at a severe disadvantage against foes with numerous swords. Quite the contrary, as Sakura has completely mastered the ins and outs of using Ittoryu, thanks to years of rigorous training and battle experience. Thanks to Ittoryu, Sakura has proven that she isn't as weighed down by her sword as those with two or more blades are. This grants Sakura an opportunity she has made all her own; the ability to confound enemies with blinding speed and graceful agility. Additionally, this also manages to free up Sakura's left hand (as she wields Momoran with her right hand;) thus allowing her to use her hand for any number of reasons. One notable use Sakura makes of her free hand is to catch blades in her palm, among other enemy assaults. This then can free her dominant hand, allowing it to strike down an unguarded opponent. Sakura's Ittoryu further deviates from the mainstream, in that her usual stance is more akin to that of a fencer's, as opposed to that of a traditional samurai's. This pose is highly iconic, as Sakura will grip her sword in her right hand while resting her left hand upon her hip, with her elbow bent outward. Thus, in this stance, many of Sakura's slashes and swings are done completely one handed. In this stance, Sakura's sword strikes are inhumanly fast; often making it impossible for the normal human eye to track its movement. This however, comes at a cost of power and strength, as Sakura's techniques rely on the strength of one arm at a time, which halves the maximum power of her attacks. This can be rectified by changing her stance though. By placing both hands on the hilt of the sword, Sakura's swings are far more powerful; often reaching their full potential in strength. This too though, comes at a price, as it robs Sakura of her more fluid mobility and speed. This forces Sakura to constantly shift between one handed and two handed techniques within the course of a single fight, depending on the circumstances at hand. This also causes many, if not all of Sakura's most powerful Ittoryu techniques to be done with both hands. Another way Sakura uses Ittoryu is by supplementing the lack of an additional sword through wielding Momoran's sheath as a make-shift secondary sword. Sakura has explained that as she feels uneasy about using any other weapon aside from Momoran, for fear it will "make her jealous," she cannot use anything but Momoran in a fight. However, she also pointed out that using Momoran's sheath doesn't affect Momoran's fickle emotions, since Momoran and its sheath are two halves of the same coin. Therefore, when in need of its use, Sakura will swing Momoran's sheath like she would a sword; using it to bludgeon foes, and to block and parry their strikes in battle. She has also used Momoran's metallic shade, attached at the tip of the sheath, as a shield for defensive purposes; thus masterfully coupling the sheath's protective qualities with the blade's offensive capabilities. There has also been at least one occasion where, by listening to the "breath" of her opponent, Sakura managed to cut her enemy with the blunt sheath itself, as if it were Momoran itself. When it comes to naming her techniques, Sakura tends to center around themes regarding the atmosphere, such as the air, birds, or weather deities. She also makes use of themes regarding speed and samurai culture. This seems to reflect three aspects surrounding Sakura's character; being that she has a samurai theme about her, is known by the Marines as the Swift Demon, and makes frequent use of compressed air techniques in battle with her sword. Before Time Skip * Ittoryu: Eagle Strike: One of Sakura's stronger techniques. Sakura will cock her arm back (with sword in the appropriate hand,) and then release a massive, horizontal air slice in the shape of an eagle with its wings spread out. This technique is similar to Zoro's long range attacks, only that the Eagle Strike covers a wider range. This is used for when Sakura needs to fight from long range. ** Ittoryu: Eagle Flock: In her later adventures, Sakura developed an evolved version of her traditional Ittoryu: Eagle Strike technique. By repeatedly performing the Ittoryu: Eagle Strike consecutively, Sakura can create what appears to be a large flock of compressed air blades in the shape of flying eagles. The technique performs similarly to its predecessor, but as it creates even more air blades, it's much more difficult to block. Evasion tends to be a good way to survive the technique, but Sakura has also learned to aim where she swings her sword, so as to increase the range of the flock for wider sweeping slashes. * Ittoryu Iai: One Inch Slash: This is one of Sakura's oldest known techniques, making its first debut during the same arc in which Sakura was introduced. Because of this, it's not really as powerful as some of her later developed techniques, but is just as reliable as always. The attack is very straight up in behavior. First, Sakura will grab her still sheathed sword, Momoran by the hilt, then proceed to dash quickly towards her intended target. Once there, with blinding swiftness, Sakura will withdraw her sword and make a quick slice, only revealing one inch of her blade as she does so (thus, this is how the attack's name came to be.) Once done, Sakura will usually re-sheathe the sword, allowing the damage to be done. Appearance-wise, this attack is comparable in speed to Zoro's Ittoryu: Lion's Strike. It's implied among other techniques used, that this was one of the Ittoryu techniques Sakura used to cut apart 10 Marine battleships prior to her debut in One Dream. * Ittoryu: Swift Demon: This is the technique which gave Sakura her infamous title, "Swift Demon" (Jinsoku Oni.) It's first performed with a dash from Sakura, as she lunges quickly into her opponent head on. Afterward, it will be followed up by one of two variations. The most common being used against a swarm of opponents. As Sakura runs into her foes, she performs quick, precise and powerful blows from her sword as she weaves through the crowd; making this a "hit and run" technique. It's most efficient against a large group of opponents, as it allows Sakura to use her immense speed to quickly dispatch them with the least amount of effort. When used against a single opponent, which happens less frequently, Sakura tends to use her massive burst of speed to attempt to plow through her opponent in one go; making for a difficult technique to fully block. It's implied among other techniques used, that this was one of the Ittoryu techniques Sakura used to cut apart 10 Marine battleships prior to her debut in One Dream. * Ittoryu: Whirlwind Shield: Unlike most of Sakura's techniques, where the attack is meant for offensive purposes, this technique is quite clearly defensive in nature. In fact, this is one of Sakura's better defensive techniques, due to the fact that it's almost impenetrable in design. What Sakura will do is hold her Momoran horizontally, and then begin spinning around in place at a rapid pace. The result of this creates a dome of air around her, with cutting properties that are similar to an air slice if ever made contact with. This technique is so useful, in that it can protect Sakura from all directions, including her blind spot, and from above when on the ground. When done in midair, the dome around Sakura will fully encompass her being, making for an unbeatable armor while in the air. The only downside to this is that unless Sakura can remain aloft on her own indefinitely, she will have to land on the ground again, thus creating an opening for a counter-attack below her. * Ittoryu Ougi: Kirikirimai: This is one of Sakura's strongest techniques. Sakura positions Momoran in a position so as to drive it donwards in a diagonal cut. This is another long range attack that Sakura uses. This attack has enough force put behind it, so that it can create an almost hurricane-like gale of wind in front of Sakura, blowing away houses and the like as if they were leaves. Within the wind, there are multiple, tiny sword slices flying about at random, cutting and cleaving anything that gets in the way. This attack is so powerful, because the wind that Sakura makes can immobilize weaker foes, or hinder the movement of opponents around the same level of strength as her; while the wind will slice them to pieces, if it doesn't simply leave horrible cuts instead. * Ittoryu Ougi: Susano'o: Like the Ittoryu Ougi: Kirikirimai, this is one of Sakura's strongest techniques, as identified by the word, Ougi/Secret Technique. Unlike Kirikirimai, Susano'o is a close-range technique, meant to obliterate the intended target into dust, rather than to cut. This technique is performed as a vertical chop from above the target, leaving onlookers to think as if the attack truly came down from the heavens by Susano'o himself. Being an Ougi, Susano'o requires a tremendous amount of strength and stamina to perform, leaving Sakura exhausted after using it. After Time Skip After the two years of training Sakura spent alongside fellow crewmate, Wyatt, under the tutelage of world renowned Skyline Pirate, Drake Lockheart, Sakura managed to improve her Ittoryu techniques far beyond their previous levels. As such, they are considered upgraded forms of older techniques; making use of far greater speed and in turn, much more strength. * Ittoryu: Swift Devil: Considered an upgraded version of the Ittoryu: Swift Demon, the Ittoryu: Swift Devil (Jinsoku Majin) first appeared sometime after the time skip as a display of how fast Sakura had become in two years. The technique's movement speed is so extreme, that no one is clearly able to watch every detail to its fullest. By drawing and striking at her enemy at inconceivable speeds which the human eye cannot follow, Sakura can perform simultaneous strikes from her blade within seconds and sheathe her Momoran before anyone can notice she moved her arm. Sakura typically tends to walk casually past her opponent and declare the technique's name, right before her numerous delayed slashes appear and slice apart the enemy. Due to the nature of the technique, it's mostly used as a finishing move in her fights, when victory is all but certain. * Ittoryu: Swaying Cherry Blossoms (一刀流:揺れます 桜 Ittōryū: Yuremasu Sakura): Trivia *When discussing the coloration of Sakura's air based techniques, such as Eagle Strike and Whirlwind Shield, and why the attacks would be depicted as pink, fellow wiki user and friend of Wyvern 0m3g4's, 13th madman, commented "it's the color of her soul." External Links Site Navigation Category:Fighting Styles Category:Wyvern 0m3g4